The Journey of No Return

Chapter Two

The welcome party was due the following day. Preparations continued for all the guests to at would be in attendance. The sultan was discussing royal issues with his council members while the queen entertained the the ladies in her lounge. Ali was overseeing the work in progress with Jade accompanying him. As for Amir he had a couple of friends over in the guest house which was not attached to the main palace.

“Jade, I need you to go and brief the prince on how the party will be tomorrow. You will give him the necessary information he is required to know and everything else I’ve mentioned before,” Ali said.

“Alright, father,” she replied and went off to find the prince.

This was the task she dreaded the most. Any encounter she had with the prince never ended well. Going upstairs she met with Ameera.

“Have you seen the prince anywhere?” she asked her.

“Yes. He’s with his friends at the guest house. I happened to be there earlier.”

“Alright thank you.”

She went out of the palace, passed the royal guards and into the courtyard. Approaching the guest house she didn’t see any sign of the prince outside except for his friends.

“Excuse me please. Where can I find the prince?” she asked at random.

No one spared her as much as a glance less of an answer. She scoffed and went inside the building hoping to maybe find him there.

Upon entering the living area she called out his name.

“Prince Amir?”

There was no sign of anyone downstairs so she began ascending the staircase to check up as well. She heard voices and laughter coming from one of the rooms at the end of the hall so she went that way.

“Prince Amir?” she called out again. She was about to knock on the door when she heard a female voice coming from inside.

“Hmmm…..that’s so gooodddddd….go slower,” she moaned.

She then heard the prince chuckle deeply. “You don’t get to tell me what to do. I know how I like it,” he said.

‘Oh. He’s in there with a lady. I can go inside then since they’re just eating,’ she thought. And then she opened the door. That was the worse decision she made.

Her prince was in bed with the the woman…..his head in between her legs. She was stark naked but the prince still had his trousers on. Everyone froze as she opened the door.

“Don’t you know how to knock?!” the lady yelled while trying to cover herself up with the sheets.

Jade couldn’t even respond or say anything. She stood at the door, her jaw almost touching the floor. She regained herself when she felt the prince’s eyes on her.

“I’m s-s-sorry. I was sent to look for the prince. I didn’t know he was busy. I’ll just leave,” she stuttered.

The prince sat up right.

“It’s fine. You can stay. I’m done here anyways,” he said.

The lady wanted saying something but cut herself short. She stood up and got dressed, clearly upset and stormed out of the room.

Jade’s eyes couldn’t even meet the prince’s for a second. She was flushed and embarrassed and highly uncomfortable. She reluctantly quickly gave him a run down of what she was meant to and ran out as soon as she was done. She didn’t wait for any comments or questions from him. As she was going pass his friends she heard them snicker and laugh.

“Freak,” she heard one of them say.

She ran into the palace and straight to her and her father’s quarters. She locked the door to her bedroom and just stood not knowing what to do. The image of what she had just witnessed was stuck in her head.

‘What did I just see?’ she thought. ‘Why was the prince doing that and why did the lady let him?’

The whole thing made her cringe so bad. That image was going to be stuck in her head for a while.

“People are so shameless,” she said out loud. She went into the bathroom, washed her face and went back out to look for her father. She almost ran into the prince as he was going upstairs to his chambers but she quickly hid behind a pillar so he didn’t see her.

Everything was in place and set for the party later that evening. While the prince was still upstairs getting ready his father accompanied by Ali welcomed and entertained their guests. Other royal families, ambassadors and dignitaries were present. The party was going to also be a formal introduction of the prince’s coming of age. It was a glorious affair. Live bands were brought in to play som background music. There was more than enough for everyone to eat and drink.

When the prince was done he stepped out of his chambers and met Jade already waiting for him. He was taken aback when he saw her. Her never use to spare her as much as a glance but today she looked really nice. He kept his thoughts to himself though as if he noticed nothing.

“Let’s get this done with,” he said.

“This will be a long night,” she muttered and took a deep breath.

He paused. “Did you say something?”

She shook her head. “No, my prince. I didn’t.”

Amir scowled and walked past her. Her sure as hell knew he heard her say something.

Jade’s job that evening was to ensure Amir could recognize all the people present and exchange pleasantries with them. They walked into the ball room and started saying hello to everyone. Before they got to the next person she gave him a heads up on who he was so he was in check.

The sultan gave a proper welcome speech when the party was in full swing and asked them to all enjoy themselves.

The Prince had gone off to hang with his friends. Into the party Jade spotted her, fiancé Sa’id standing with her father talking with some friends. Her heart did a little flip. She wished the party could end right then so she could enjoy the rest of the evening with him. She barely got to see him because of how strict her father was. But tonight she had to look for a way. Lucky for her it seemed his phone rang and he excused himself to go take the call in a more quiet place. She snatched that opportunity and went after him.

“Hey you,” she whispered into his ear. Recognizing her voice he didn’t even turn around.

“Hey, princess. Let’s take a walk, shall we?” he said with a smile.

He went ahead of her. She looked around to be sure her father was not in sight then she sneaked off and followed him into the gardens. When she caught up to him he took her hand in his then walked a little more farther to find a place to sit.

“I finally get to see you again. I’ve missed you so much. You’re always so busy here that we barely get to see each other,” he said as they sat down.

“I’m sorry things have to be that way. You know how my father always keeps an eye on me so I don’t wander off and how he always has to present whenever we’re meeting up…..,”

“It’s fine,” he trailed his thumb down her cheek. “I didn’t bring you out here to listen to your complaints.”

His eyes lingered with hers for a second before going down to her lips.

“You look so beautiful tonight,” he whispered. Then pulled her face closer and brought his lips down to hers. It was a warm and gentle kiss but not enough for him. He kissed every single inch of her face. He started getting a bit too touchy and she pulled away.

“We can’t be doing this,” she said and flushes, looking around to be sure no one could see them.

He let out a sigh and held her both hands in his. “I know, my love. I can’t help it sometimes. It’s pure torture having to stay away from you.”

She blushed deeply and looked the other way.